This story is excerpted from Life Kit's Guide to Paying Off Credit Card Debt.Sign up for the month-long newsletter series here to get expert strategies to save money and spend less.So you'd like to pay off your credit card debt.
But you'd like to also build your savings accounts.Is it possible to do both?Yes, say financial experts — and in fact, it's recommended."If you don't have a nice pile of savings, when another emergency or unexpected situation comes, you're gonna end up right back in credit card debt," says Yanely Espinal, a financial educator and the author of Mind Your Money.With careful planning and budgeting, it's possible to make aggressive payments to your credit card debt while saving for the future.
So resist the urge to throw all your money into your credit card payments.Instead, use this moment as an opportunity to get your finances in order.In this step-by-step guide, Espinal and Tania Brown, an Atlanta-based certified financial planner, explain how to keep up with your payments while staying off the hamster wheel of debt.To pay off your credit card debt, you'll need money.
It's time to revisit your budget.️ To see where you can save, track your spending for 30 days.Brown tells her clients to use a paper calendar, but you can also use a notebook.Try not to use an app that tracks your spending for you, says Espinal.
Manually writing out your daily expenses helps you "see the details of where your problem areas are."Then, review all your expenses and ask yourself:What expenses can I get rid of altogether? Maybe nip your matcha latte habit in the bud, or cancel that magazine subscription you rarely read.What can I temporarily cut? "You don't have to cut everything while paying off debt," Espinal says.That deprivation might tempt you to start spending again.
Instead, think of expenses you can live without for a few months, like if you're paying for multiple streaming services, cut a few you don't use often.What else can I do to save money? Ret...